The Final Sacrifice
by Muffin-Fairy
Summary: This is about one of the Elric brothers' ultimate sacrifice for the other. Very AU. First fma fic posted here. Written as oneshot so complete for now, but I am considering makng it a longer story.


A/N: Hello, this is not the first fma fic thatI have written, but it is the first I have posted here. I wrote this as a one shot but I'm wondering if I should make it intoa longer story. Please tell me what you think if you have the time, thank you so much for reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own fullmetal alchemist, any of it's characters, or anything relatred to it at all.

The Final Sacrifice:

Edward Elric slowly opened his eyes. It was morning and the whole room smelt of dust and books. Ed sat up slowly and yawned gazing around the maze of books that crowded around the bed, all on the same subject, Alchemy. Each one was crammed with tabs and labels marking pages of interest, pages mentioning anything about the taboo of human transmutation. Ed quietly got out of bed and carefully navigated his way through the literary labyrinth that was his room to awoodenchest of drawers. He got dressed in an almost dream state, staring at the clothes he was wearing. It wasn't right somehow, but of course nothing was right anymore. The black clothes and red coat felt so foreign, and the automail felt excruciatingly heavy on his arm and leg. He shook his head softly and reminded himself of what he had to do, for his brother's sake, for the sake of everyone he loved. He had to be happy. He pulled his blonde hair back into a ponytail and stared at the reflection in the mirror. "Why did you do this?"he whispered, but all the response he got was a warm breeze from the open window carrying two brother's voices from a not so distant past.

"This is the only way I can get you back to normal. I'm sorry,but it's all I can do." His brother's voice sounded so small and defeated. He had found his solution...a final resort.  
"No, I can't let you do this. You can't." A desperate plea, a begging command from his heart. denied. "I've already made up my mind...A promise is a promise. It's all I can give..." A flash of light. Darkness.

Edward shook his head. No, he couldn't think about that now. Every night he cried himself to sleep, he swore to himself thathe would be stronger in the morning. Every tear was a fresh promise attempting to wash away the pain and guilt that haunted his nightmares, but it was morning now, and he had to put onhis mask. He needed to be happy. An actor playing in a comedy when a tradgety was already taking place inside of him. It didn't really matter any more, it was for his brother...He had given the final sacrifice.

He walked downstairs to find Winry happily making breakfast. He smiled and tapped her shoulder, "Good morning, Winry," he said in his most cheerfulvoice.The blonde girl turned around and waved her spoon threateningly at him,

"Don't 'Good Morning' me, Edward Elric! You still haven't gotten your repairs done, and you're automail is in an awful state! Honestly, would it kill you to do a bit of maintenance every once in a while? I swear, take better care of it or I'll rip it off!" She turned back to the mixture she was stirring and started mumbling about reckless alchemists who couldn'trecognize fine mechanics if they were transmuted up their rear ends. Edward rolled his eyes and reached in the fridge for the juice carton, "Well, you're as charming as ever this morning...What are you making?" Winry sighed and spoke in a softer voice, "I'm sorry I shouted at you Edward, I'm just out of sorts today...I'm making strawberry tarts;They wereAl's favorite, remember? I figured it would be nice to make them, since today was the day he..." She stopped mid-sentence. It didn't matter, they both knew. Today was the day the Alphonse they knew and loved was lost to them forever.

Winry turned around suddenly. "I miss him, Ed." He looked at her heartbreaking expression, his heart slowly filling with guilt. Guilt had become anoverwhelmingly familiar emotion for the past year, but every time Winry looked at him with those sad eyes, the guilt resurfacedand the wounds on his heart, which he had so carefully sewn together, ripped open with new agony.

Winry stood shaking with quiet tears.Edward abandoned his juice, and embraced her gently. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. If only she knew, he thought. How could this have happened? How could he have done this to him?

Somewhere in the distant past soft golden eyes were crying and a voice whispered in his ear, "It's not near enough, but this is my last gift to you, my final sacrifice. This is all I can give you, Alphonse, myself."

Alphonse Elric held winry in his brothers skin, cradling her close. If only you would believe me...could believe me, then maybe this wouldn't be so hard, he thought.

There wasn't really any other options,he had been given his brother's life,and had to live it in honor of his brother's last blessing, a gift that was an excruciatingly painful burden. How could he have possibly told anyone, how could he possibly prove it, make them believe that his soul was truly that of the younger elric, trapped in the elder's body. Alphonse thought that Winry had always loved Edward better anyways, at least this way she might have been sparedalittlepain. She had already suffered so much on their behalf, he couldn't cause her or Granny Pinako anymore sadness, so he accepted the gift, he became Edward Elric.

Winry sighed and Al could feel her breathing against his chest. He could feel things now, he could feel and taste everything through his new body. It was wonderful but in some ways, this body was so much worse than his previous metal one. At least they were together back then, pursuing their beautiful fantasy. But now, he was alone. He had to feel pain with every touch of a warm hand or every soft cold flake of snow on his face, the pain of knowing that his brother should be the one to feel these things, not him. Edward didn't realize, but it was such a cruel act that he had done,allowing Alphonse to be so close toEdward that he could feel his brother's heartbeat, and yet farther away than he could ever reach.

Al looked out the window...the sun was rising and a warm breeze crept through into the kitchen. Al could feel it's gentle touch against his brother's skin.  
"Brother...I miss you. How could you leave me? How am I supposed to do this without you?" He whispered.  
The warm wind slowly drifted away into nothingness, leaving the boy living a life for two people, holding the girl who lost both.

"Edward," Winry said sadly, "I can't believe he's been gone a whole year. I miss him so much." Edward Elric sighed and whispered very quietly, "I miss you too."

Winry embraced him one last time and went back to her cooking as though nothing had happened, methodically mixing the ingredients, her face somber though no more tears fell. She stopped for a moment, " I wish he was here."  
The boy crossed over to the window and shut it quietly, looking at his forerign reflection in the glass.  
"Maybe he's closer than you think."

The end.


End file.
